Rise Of The Hoarder

Another thing I told Lara to do was to mention the details of her Skills to me. It was a pain that I couldn’t see her Status Window myself. Yes, a real pain indeed!

She explained the functions of her new Skills, giving me a general idea of how they worked.

Apparently, <Spell Conjuring (Basic)>, just like the one I had in my Skill Slot, allowed Lara to use Basic Spells as long as her MP allowed it. However, unlike mine, she already had four preset Spells available for use—each belonging to the basic elements; Water, Earth, Fire, and Air.

I felt a tinge of jealousy, but this was what I got for not choosing the <Mage>Job. The System didn’t help me choose presets for my exact Skill. I had to learn them manually… and to do that, I would need a Magic Item.

‘Tsk’ I clicked my tongue and got to know about the second Skill.

<Elemental Affinity> gave Lara a twenty percent increase in offensive ability when using any Elemental magic, as well as a 10 percent damage reduction from Elemental attacks.

They didn’t seem much now, but I was certain that if her Job kept upgrading as mine had, this Skill would make Lara overpowered in no time.

It was an educational session and I learned a lot from her explanation. However, my lingering feeling of uncertainty remained. The reason for my unease was due to the fact that Lara could be lying to me about these Skills and I would have no idea._.

To ease my suspicions, I had her do one more thing for me— use the Skills so I could see them in action for myself.

For that, Lara responded by first showing me the four Basic Spells in her arsenal. Afterward, she used <Mana Manipulation> to slightly control the flow of Mana around so I was certain it was true. I also felt a good deal of energy entering her body so she had to be restoring herself.

It was still impossible to guess the last Skill, <Elemental Affinity>’s effect, so I decided to let it go.

After I was done confirming what I wanted, we left for the rest. Everyone was done choosing their Skill, so out of the 29 other Subjugation team members, we had;

2 <Brawlers>

3 <Knight>

7 <Archers>

12 <Mages>

5 <Priests>

It was an odd combination, but I could work with that. For those who chose the same Job, their Skills were identical, so I was able to confirm the truth behind Lara’s words from the other Mages.

I wasn’t surprised that so few chose to be Brawlers and Knights. Many didn’t want direct confrontations, while others chose that due to their area of specialty.

As expected, Daniel chose <Knight> and Tasha chose <Brawler>.

Their Skills were also pretty decent. The reason I knew that much was because they all confided in me in hopes that they hadn’t made the wrong choice.

Daniel and Tasha, most especially, were pretty spot-on with their choices since the Jobs they chose synced well with thier Gifts.

Lara had the Gift called [Sheet Might], which forcefully brought her strength level to that of her opponent, with no drawbacks! Having the Brawler Job was basically icing on the cake. There was no better choice.

For Daniel, his Gift was [Unlimited Potential]… a cheat ability. In simple terms, it allowed him to adapt to situations quickly, and gain extra EXP from his enemies which made him Level Up faster than usual.

But the most astounding aspect of this Gift was that he could bring out the best of anything he wielded. He could not only increase his potential, but also the potential of his weapons. That was why the Job of <Knight> was perfect for him.

If I were him, mastering many weapons would be my goal. However, knowing him, he would most likely stick to the sword. Under the Job tree of <Knight>, it was certain that a rare kind known as <Hero> could be achieved. If Daniel obtained that, he would be beyond unstoppable!

‘No wonder he’s the ace of Charles’ Camp… what a monster…’ I grinned.

Now that we were basically done with our preparations and had powered up considerably, the next goal was to invade the second compound. It was afternoon already, so I wanted to speed things up even more.

After all, I wanted to be done by the end of the day.

“We’ll have lunch after clearing the second compound!”

The Subjugation squad had no complaints about my proposition, no, my command. In the first place, I was sharing my food with them. Secondly, they had to take down the compound one way or the other! They might as well do that with my support!

Everyone was excited due to the ease of the first round in addition to their massive growth. There was no way they would refuse a new chance at more power.

“Let’s go…” My eyes darted to the second gate.

********************************

“Huu… so, what are you trying to say, old guy?”

A puff of smoke went into the air as the lips of the ebony-skinned man parted. He sat comfortably on a seat and was smiling in a relaxed manner.

His name was Kevin Smith, leader of the disorderly band of ‘Evil’ Aligned players who broke into the Camp, killed a bunch of people and practically took over the whole structure.

This man’s eyes squinted a little as he looked at the other person who sat opposite him. He appeared older, was white-skinned—though it now resembled a pale color—and his frozen was evident.

Kevin Smith smiled at the uptight, nervous, older male in front of him. More smoke came out of his mouth and nostrils as he spoke once more.

“There’s a Horde… you say…?”

Charles nodded stiffly.

In all honesty, he felt overwhelmed by the presence standing before him. Unlike Jeremy, this man was a hardened killer and had the mature presence of an impregnable fortress—no, a wild beast that could devour him at any time!

Charles could only gulp and answer the man’s questions in hopes his life and that of his family would be spared.

“Yes… and it’s fast approaching as we speak.”